More rain, an upset and a loss by Grigor Dimitrov at Wimbledon

Grigor Dimitrov

Sang Tan / Associated Press

Grigor Dimitrov gets set to hit a backhand against Grega Zemlja during their second-round match at Wimbledon on Friday. Zemlja's 3-6, 7-6, 3-6, 6-4, 11-9 victory ended only the 12th five-set match in the first two men's singles rounds, the fewest at Wimbledon in the Open era.

Grigor Dimitrov gets set to hit a backhand against Grega Zemlja during their second-round match at Wimbledon on Friday. Zemlja's 3-6, 7-6, 3-6, 6-4, 11-9 victory ended only the 12th five-set match in the first two men's singles rounds, the fewest at Wimbledon in the Open era. (Sang Tan / Associated Press)

WIMBLEDON -- Giant killer Sergiy Stakhovsky has reached the end of his 15 minutes of fame at this year’s Wimbledon.

Stakhovsky, the Ukrainian who upset Roger Federer in the second round, exited Friday in the third round when Jurgen Melzer of Austria beat him, 6-2, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3.

"I think I just played stupid," said Stakhovsky, who acknowledged he was still settling down after his upset of Federer and had a busy day Thursday doing post-upset interviews.

"Everybody wanted to chat. Everybody wanted a piece. I mean, not that I'm denying a lot, but it just takes some time and energy off."

There was one upset of note on a rainy and overcast day, as Kaia Kanepi of Estonia defeated No. 7-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany, 3-6, 7-6, 6-3, in a women's match. Kanepi’s next opponent will be wild-card entrant Alison Riske of Hilton Head, S.C., who reached the third round for the first time with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Ursula Radwanska.

No. 17-seeded Sloane Stephens’ match on Court No. 3 against Petra Cetkovska of the Czech Republic was suspended in the first set with Cetkovska leading the American, 3-2, late in the afternoon. A band of showers suspended play everywhere but on the covered Centre Court, where No. 2 seed Andy Murray of Great Britain was facing Tommy Robredo of Spain.

A number of doubles matches were cancelled because of the bad weather.

Dodging the raindrops, No. 4 men’s seed David Ferrer beat Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6, 7-5, and Great Britain’s Laura Robson kept the home fans happy with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Mariana Duque-Marino of Colombia. That match had been postponed from Thursday.

Robson said she’s doing her best to deal with the high expectations she faces.

“I think I’m handling it pretty well so far,” she said. “I’ve had a fair few matches on big stadiums now where I’ve handled the crowd support perfectly fine.

“I love when people get involved. You know, sometimes they do a massive groan if I hit a double-fault, but I’m doing it as well. So, yeah, we’re just living it together.”

In a rare five-set men’s match, Grega Zemlja of Slovenia defeated Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria, 3-6, 7-6, 3-6, 6-4, 11-9, a match that was interrupted by rain and marred by slippery courts. There have only been 12 five-set matches in the first two men's singles rounds this year, the fewest at Wimbledon in the Open era. The previous low during the opening two rounds at Wimbledon was 13 in 1981.

Dimitrov fell several times but said it’s simply part of playing on the grass.

“It happens and I think you’ve got to be ready,” he said. “It’s the same for you and the opponent.”

On a lighter note, No. 13 men's seed Tommy Haas, who has dual German and U.S. citizenship, was asked if American journalists can count him as the last American man left in the draw since all the others were eliminated. “You can write that, sure,” he said, smiling. “That’s fine with me.”

He also said he had considered playing for the U.S. “for a brief second,” but decided against it. “If you had a German/American flag, I would represent that flag but it doesn’t exist,” he said.